Fly tipper given community order and vehicle destroyed as Wolverhampton Council sends out warning
A truck used to fly tip in Wolverhampton has been seized and destroyed as part of a clear message by the city council of the consequences of the crime as man given community order.
The tough action by Wolverhampton Council was taken in an attempt to deter offenders and prevent the vehicle from being used in future environmental crimes.
In this case, security cameras captured a fly tipping incident on land off Millfields Road in Ettingshall in May last year.
The driver of a Ford Transit flatbed van dumped a large amount of waste, including furniture, bagged waste and carpet, with the help of another motorist.
Environmental crime officers contacted the DVLA and records showed that at the time of the incident, the truck was registered to Colin Fullard, of Glyn Avenue in Bilston.
Following several attempts to seize the vehicle, council officers and police met Fullard at his property, where they were told the van was elsewhere.
The vehicle was found and seized and on inspection, it was discovered that the van had been resprayed and customised with a different roof light and trim, while a second DVLA check confirmed that Fullard was still the registered keeper.
Fullard told officers that he had not been driving the van but had lent it to a contact who was operating a gardening business.
At a hearing at Dudley Magistrates Court, Fullard pleaded guilty to one charge of fly tipping under the Environmental Protection Act and was given a 12-month community order and required to complete 135 hours of unpaid work.
A £1,000 remediation order for clean-up costs was imposed, along with court costs of £3,626 and a victim surcharge of £114, while District Judge Wheeler also made a deprivation order for the vehicle.
The council took the decision to destroy the truck as a warning to others, saying that if the vehicle had been sold, any proceeds left following seizure and storage costs, would have to be returned to the keeper.
Wolverhampton Council uses a drone and CCTV cameras in its ongoing attempts to tackle fly tipping and in January this year, the council also increased the Fixed Penalty Notice fine for fly tipping from £400 to £1,000.
These initiatives run alongside the city’s Shop a Tipper campaign. Under the campaign, anyone suspected of dumping rubbish has their images shared to appeal for information to help identify them.
Statistics from Defra show that over the past 10 years, the council has issued 330 Fixed Penalty Notices for fly tipping, carried out 58 prosecutions and seized 24 vehicles.
In addition, Defra’s latest published statistics show that while fly tipping is on the rise nationally, incidents are reducing in Wolverhampton.
Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services at Wolverhampton Council, said: “The council has powers to destroy vehicles that are used for fly tipping and we have used them in this case to send a strong message to anyone thinking of carrying out this criminal activity.
“We are proud of the work we are doing in the city to tackle this thoughtless behaviour and we have increased fines, we carry out regular prosecutions, use our CCTV cameras and our successful Shop a Tipper scheme and these efforts are reflected in the statistics from Defra.
“Fly tipping can cost local taxpayers up to £500,000 a year and we will not tolerate it.
"We use all the powers at our disposal and will not hesitate to destroy the vehicles of those who use Wolverhampton as a dumping ground. We will not stand by and allow these criminals to spoil our city.”
